2019 PNC APTA Men’s Nationals Preview

March 4, 2019

2019 PNC APTA Men’s Nationals Preview

The top three seeded teams in the men’s draw have separated themselves from the field this season and each has a claim as the favorite to win the 2019 PNC APTA Men’s Nationals.  Last year’s National Champions, John Hughes and Marc Powers, return as the top seeded team. After their dominant 2017-2018, they looked like they might be struggling at the beginning of this season, falling in the quarterfinals of Chicago Charities. They rebounded nicely, however, wining the Western New England NRT, reaching the semifinals of The Midwesterns, and playing a fantastic tournament in Boston where they dismissed Drew Broderick and Jared Palmer in straight sets in the final.

Juan Arraya and Mark Parsons (2) played three Grand Prix tournaments together, reaching the finals in Philly, the semifinals in Boston, and winning the Short Hills Invitational to end Arraya’s four-year losing streak in the Short Hills Invitational finals. Having had their three-year APTA National title streak snapped last year when they lost in the finals, Drew Broderick and Jared Palmer (3) are looking to regain their crown in Pittsburgh. They failed to win either Grand Prix tournament they played together this season, but this team always peaks at Nationals.

Each of the teams seeded four through six has had breakout results this season. The Rose brothers (4), Pete and Paul, had big wins over Hughes/Powers and Marek Czerwinski/Graham McNerney to reach the finals at Chicago Charities. Czerwinski/McNerney (5) outclassed the field at the Grand Prix in Philly, capping off a great weekend by beating Arraya/Parsons for the title. Brian Compton/Scott Kahler (6) followed up a win at the Cleveland Masters with a Grand Prix victory at the Midwesterns, where they posted wins over both Hughes/Powers and Arraya/Parsons.

Among the teams seeded in the remainder of the top 16, Mikk Irdoja/Jeff Morneau, Rob Bakker/Tyler Fraser, Sven Burus/Roman Stoisavljevic, Blake Anderson/Martin Bostrom, and Marco Grangeiro/George Wilkinson have all played a lot together this season and will take that experience into Nationals. Seeded 15th, three-time APTA National Champion Johan du Randt and partner Stephen Mitchell are a scary duo for any of the higher-ranked teams to encounter early.

If you won’t be in Pittsburgh to watch the tournament in person, you can watch four days of Live Streaming coverage on YouTube, Facebook, and the APTA Network. Here is the schedule so you can plan your viewing:

Thursday approximately 4PM: Selected match from the Viking Men’s President’s Cup final.
Friday 9:30AM: Two courts of Men’s and Women’s early round matches will be streamed all day.
Saturday 8:30AM: 2 courts will be streamed all day, including Men’s and Women’s Quarters and Women’s Semis
Sunday 9:30AM: both Men’s Semis, followed by the Women’s Final and the Men’s Final